


Imbalance

by mogwai_do



Category: Heroes - Fandom
Genre: Dark, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-05
Updated: 2013-01-05
Packaged: 2017-11-23 18:44:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/625392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mogwai_do/pseuds/mogwai_do
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU from the end of Season 1.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Imbalance

There has always been speculation, but in reality only three people understood Peter's talent. Nathan was the first: he had always been Peter's anchor, nature as much as nurture forging their bond, but no-one knew how much of one until Nathan was gone. Nathan had instinctively understood what Peter had needed most as his powers had threatened to consume him and he'd worked with a politician's skill and a brother's love to find Peter the balance he'd needed to survive. Now, without Nathan, that balance was shot to hell and people were beginning to learn that there were worse things than an out of control human bomb.

Peter understood it now too: thanks to Nathan he had learned enough to know what was happening to him and how to control it. He knew he had to leave if he wanted to stop himself from adapting to Nathan's counterweight - the only other person to understand - but he had chosen not to in the full knowledge of what that meant. Nathan wasn't the only one who understood ways and means, and Peter would do whatever it took to get him back again.

Empathy wasn't just mimicry, it was more; Peter matched himself to those he met, not just their abilities, but more fundamentally. He fit himself into the empty spaces in their lives and became what they needed - the big brother for Claire, the baby for his mother, the friend to Noah, and finally the last link to an almost-lost humanity. Some days it seemed that this had always been somehow inevitable.

Peter let his hand trail across the broad shoulders of the other half of Nathan's equation, feeling, as he'd learned to do, the strange pulse of another's power being used within his range. The screaming had stopped minutes ago; the sobbing would take a little longer. Peter stretched up and leaned in, his lips brushing stubble, "Do you think they'll listen to us now, Gabriel?"

FIN


End file.
